ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS  

Top On Premise Accounting Software Systems

SAP
SAP is the world's largest manufacturer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications. SAP counts more than 35,000 ERP software customers in more than 120 countries. The German software giant produces accounting, distribution and supply chain, manufacturing, HR and payroll, and CRM software applications. However, SAP is not known for deploying individual line of business applications and instead has become famous for deploying integrated, enterprise-wide ERP systems and centrally facilitating all line of business applications across the enterprise. With such a large typical business software scope, SAP implementations are highly complex and not for the faint of heart. As stated by analyst Jim Shepherd in a 2008 AMR Research report, " ... this is typically a multiyear, multimillion-dollar effort to transform the business."

ORACLE
Founded by the infamous CEO Larry Ellison, the database, middleware and enterprise applications software giant is the arch rival of competitor SAP. In fact, Oracle and SAP collectively own the majority of the tier one enterprise software market. Oracle also delivers accounting solutions, distribution and supply chain management software, manufacturing systems, HR and payroll solutions and CRM software. Despite Oracle's growth by acquisition strategy, the company has shown remarkable success in integrating acquired products and retaining the customer bases of its acquisitions.

INFOR
Infor is an aggressive growth by acquisition roll-up that has become the third largest ERP application software enterprise in the world (behind only Oracle and SAP). Infor acquires enterprise software makers and then attempts to improve the business software systems through continued innovation, faster implementations, global reach, and flexible purchase options. Infor was recently named the Most Influential Private Technology Company in the World as part of analyst firm Aberdeen Group's survey and report titled "2009 State of the Market: Mid-Year Insights Report."

Microsoft Dynamics GP, NAV, AX, SL
Microsoft acquired its way into the ERP and accounting software market with the acquisitions of Great Plains Software in December 2000 (shortly after Great Plains had acquired accounting software makers Solomon, RealWorld and FRx) and Navision Software in July 2002 (just after Navision had acquired ERP software maker Axapta). While the original strategy was to merge the four overlapping ERP software systems into a common code base, the project (known as Project Green to insiders) missed almost every milestone and proved overwhelming for even the world's largest software company. Microsoft has since been unable to articulate a clear multi-product strategy for four overlapping and even competitive ERP and accounting software solutions which all serve a common small and midsize business (SMB) marketplace. However, even without a clear message, Microsoft offers a very impressive Value Added Reseller (VAR) channel and four mature ERP and accounting software solutions that retain the second highest global SMB market share in the world.

SAGE
Based in the UK with the largest operating division located in the US, Sage is the maker of the market leading MAS 90, MAS 200 and MAS 500 accounting software products. Each of the accounting systems is best suited for the SMB market and with over 70,000 users the MAS 90 line has clearly been the most successful product for the company. Sage's MAS lines compete directly with Microsoft's Dynamics lines. Sage MAS 90 line was developed using Providex which is a Business Basic Extended (BBX) programming language. The technology is a bit of a laggard and scalability is far less than competitor Microsoft. However, Sage's products are generally considered much easier to use, faster to implement and less costly to maintain.

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